“It has been a very long time coming. I’m a resident as well as a councillor in Devonport and I have suffered from this anti-social behaviour.

"I do not like walking through Marlborough Street at night to be honest.

“One of the most striking things from the consultation was one woman with a five-year-old granddaughter who said she had to walk past men urinating and women squatting in the street.

"That is not the type of community we want.”

Plymouth City Council licensing committee heard results from the public consultation carried out by police, to which 82 people replied.

Inspector Sean Harris, sector inspector for Devonport and West, told councillors that 84 per cent of people who filled out the questionnaire said they had been subject to anti-social or criminal behaviour from street drinkers.

Another 64 per cent said the abuse had been weekly or monthly, encountering drunken behaviour and foul language.

81 out of the 82 people surveyed said they supported the DPPO, while the council received 91 submissions from people approving the plan.

Inspector Harris reassured residents that the new powers would be “discretionary” and not designed to stop people enjoying themselves.

“These are discretionary powers to target those involved in anti-social behaviour in groups of two or more.

“I’m aware there are events in Devonport and in the park and I want to encourage people to go there and share a bottle of wine.

"This power is not meant to cover those sort of events.”

Cllr Mark Coker added that the housing associations in the area and Lifehouse, the Salvation Army run hostel, had volunteered their support to the DPPO.

He said support agencies working with street drinkers had also been met with over the measure.

Twenty main offenders for drinking on the street have already been identified by police, served ASBO’s, and signed up to work with rehabilitation service Harbour.

“We are really proud that this has been community led,” said Cllr Coker.

“It started from Have Your Say meetings and progressed over a number of months.

“Cllr Taylor and I are not surprised by the results of the consultations which show outright support.

"Drinking on the street is a topic of conversation every time we do our monthly neighbourhood walk around.

“The DPPO is not a draconian measure and I think it will help people to get over their fear of crime.”

Conservative councillor Ted Fry called the move a “natural progression” in Devonport’s regeneration to a more “balanced community.”

The banning order will come into play from September 15 and will last for three years.

The police will be putting up signs alerting people to the order’s enforcement in the coming weeks.

12 comments

It always makes me chuckle when people complain about the police trying to stop people having fun or making us become a nanny state. Why should we have to pander to those who can't behave properly? Why should people have to see drunken people urinating in the street in broad daylight? Why should a minority (drunks) have the right to dictate what their community is going to have to put up with?
And if people behave in a socially responsible way (e.g. think of how your actions impacts others before you do it) then there would be no need for PCSO's or banning orders etc. etc.
P.S. Don't vote UKIP. What's their policy on education, the NHS, taxation, the environment etc. etc. Don't waste your vote on a one issue party.

Watch out, here come the fun police. Trying to stop people enjoy themselves just because there are a few drunkards in the area. The police will, as always, use the policy to harass ordinary people who are causing no harm at all

It just shows the sign of the times when it takes 2 years to make something like this come to fruition.
A public drinking ban should be able to be enforced in a matter of days not years if the situation warrants it. As long as the hands are tied up largely by ridiculous European human rights bills and red tape thugs and anti-socials will continue to exploit loopholes in the law. Get tough on crime? Kick out the lily livered establishment parties, tell Europe where to go and vote UKIP.